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Local authorities and developers could establish an LDV by establishing a formal joint venture to share risk and reward in a structured way. This would reflect a mix of land ownerships in the area of a new Garden City, and is an approach that has been used extensive in regeneration projects for many years.
There are various ways in which a joint venture could be structured contractually. These include, for example, if the local authority owned some of the land being proposed for the Garden City and/or was prepared to invest monies to meet the cost of infrastructure or could access either grant or recoverable equity funding to do so. Different combinations of land and funding can be input into the joint venture at different times reflecting the availability of capital.
The joint venture entity would most likely act as master developer. Alternatively, it may appoint a third party development manager under a Development Management Agreement while retaining overall control, risk and reward. Such ‘nested’ joint venture arrangements will inevitable require complex legal and governance arrangements. In many ways, registered providers (housing associations) are an ideal partner in the delivery of new Garden Cities. They bring both expertise in leveraging affordable housing funding as well as a long term view of sites and stewardship given that they will continue to own stock on site, whether social rented or affordable rent/homeownership.
Below are a range of examples of joint ventures between the public, private and registered provider sectors in delivering new communities:
- Wichelstowe – a 50:50 joint venture between Barratt Developments and Swindon Borough Council
- Manydown Garden Village – a 50:50 joint venture between Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council together with Urban&Civic
- Beaulieu Park LLP – a 50:50 joint venture between Countryside Properties PLC (now Vistry) and London&Quadrant Housing Association
- Rochester Riverside – a 50:50 joint venture between Hyde Housing Association and Countryside/Vistry
- Ashmere, Ebbsfleet – a 50:50 joint venture between Vistry and Latimer, the development arm of Clarion
- Sherford, Plymouth – a 50:50 joint venture between Vistry and Latimer
- Tadpole Garden Village – a joint venture between Crest Nicholson and Sovereign Housing Association
- Godley Green – Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council Joint Venture with MADE Partnership (itself a Joint Venture between Homes England and Barratt Redrow PLC, Homes England and Lloyds Banking Group)
- Handforth Garden Village – Cheshire East Council Joint Venture with MADE Partnership
- Bourne Airfield – Juniper JV between Homes England, global fund manager Oaktree Capital and property firm Greycoat Real Estate
- Cambridge East – Joint venture between Homes England, with its National Housing Bank, and The Hill Group